Mollie the School Dog

For many years, our school has been lucky to have School Dogs.  That’s a dog who lives with a member of staff but comes to school regularly to work with children and be part of the school family.  We have a school dog because we believe that they help to teach children non-violence , empathy, respect, kindness, love, responsibility friendship and trust.  

Mollie is our current school dog. She lives with Mrs Ward and will come to school on Wednesday and Fridays.

Mollie loves having strokes on her back, listening to children reading  a book and looking at great learning that children have done in books or on the iPad.

We aim to promote good practice in animal care. Sensible measures are taken to reduce the risk of infection to the children and to staff.

Children are taught how to interact gently with any animals in school. They are taught correct procedures in handling and caring for animals under the direct supervision of adults; they are also encouraged to take a shared responsibility for the care of the animals, under direct supervision. 

For more information about our school dogs please see the information below: 

• School Dog policy 
• School Dog Risk Assessment 
• Mollie the School Dog information leaflet

In loving memory of Lottie the School Dog 

For many years, Lottie the black labrador was one of our school dogs here at Send. She lived with Mrs Harwood, our Home School Link Worker and came to school with her each day.  Lottie retired from active school dog duty at the end of the summer holidays in 2023 at the ripe old age of 13 and after many years of being a much loved member of the Send school family. 

Mrs Harwood was sad to let the school family know that Lottie died on 9th November 2023.  She writes: 

Lottie was nearly 14 years old. She had become quite frail and was almost blind - but she was still able to wag her tail enthusiastically.
She died very peacefully. She was much loved by all who met her at Send CofE Primary and she absolutely loved her job as one of the school dogs. She enjoyed being walked by the older children, hugged by the tiny ones and her seal impressions were enjoyed by all!! Her favourite game was sniffing out food that teachers had accidentally left on the floor - biscuits for governor's meetings, boxes of chocolates, smoked salmon sandwiches, many teacher's lunches and so much more! 

We send our thoughts and best wishes to Mrs Harwood and her family. If your child is particularly upset, Winston’s Wish charity has some good resources for supporting grieving children.